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AN 



HISTORICAL ADDRESS 



DELIVERED BEFORE THE 



Ijla^oaditt^etb ^rimlttttal |^0lle|e, 



ON THE OCCASION OF GRADUATING ITS EIRST CLASS, 



July 19, 1871. 



By MARSHALL P. WILDER. 



BOSTON : 

WRIGHT & POTTKK, PRINTERS, 79 MILK STREET 
(Corner of FKOEKAiy Street). 

1871. 



AN 



HISTORICAL ADDRESS 



DELIVERED BEFOKE THE 



a$$a#$tte AjjwttlMal mlkp, 



ON THE OCCASION OF GRADUATING ITS FIRST CLASS, 



July 19, 1871. 



n^*'^ 



By MARSHALL P.' WILDER. 



BOSTON : 

WRIGHT & POTTER, PRINTERS, 79 MILK STREET 
(Corner of Federal Street). 

1871. 



4 



ADDRESS. 



Mr. President and Friends of Agriculture. 

The occasion which h^as called us together is of no 
ordinary importance. We meet to commemorate, by 
the services of this day, the graduation of the first 
class of students from the first Agricultural College 
of our own State or of our own 'New England, an oc- 
casion which we believe will be made memorable as 
the beginning of a new era in the cause of scientific 
as well as practical agriculture in our good old Com- 
monwealth. 

By a merciful Providence I stand before you to-day 
as the senior member of the Board of Trustees, and I 
propose, in the discharge of the duty assigned me, to 
record for the benefit of those who may come after us, 
in as brief a manner as possible, the history and prog- 
ress of efibrts for the advancement of agricultural l^ 
science in our land, and especially of those which have 
culminated in the establishment of the Massachusetts 
Agricultural College. As this is the first public ad- 



dress, or ceremony, in connection with the establish- 
ment of the College, it has been thought desirable that 
it should be made historical, embracing an account, not 
only of its origin and progress, but embodying, in 
some tangible form for preservation, a recollection of 
the primary causes which prompted the pioneers and 
leaders of American agriculture to associate together 
for its advancement — a history which should be placed 
on record for the encouragement of future generations, 
as well as for the consolation of those who have borne 
the heat and burden of the past. 

Few things are more apparent, and I am certain 
none more gratifying to this assembly, than the 
increased interest now manifested in the progress 
and prosperity of our Agricultural Colleges, espec- 
ially in that of our own Commonwealth. Those 
who have lived to witness this slow but sure ad- 
vance in public sentiment, cannot but rejoice that 
confidence, and sympathy in our cause have at last 
been inspired, a confidence which we believe will 
ripen into a general and abiding interest, for the 
promotion and welfare throughout our country of 
these institutions. The utility and importance of these 
are no longer questioned as of doubtful tendency, 
and we rejoice in the belief that we are hereafter to 
have, not only the best wishes and the best liopes of 
the community, but we are to receive from the foster- 



ing hand of government, and the benefactions of 
individual munificence, whatever aid may be neces- 
sary for their well-being. 

And here, as a matter of record, it may be well to 
place on the printed page, some facts in regard to the 
early history of agricultural improvement in the Unit- 
ed States, and especially in our own Commonwealth. 
Human pursuits and enterprises are so intimately 
allied with each other, that no sooner is a discovery 
made in one part of the world, than its knowledge is 
extended to other sections and other persons who 
sympathize in the object of its advancement. Thus, 
the example of the Philadelphia Society for Promot- 
ing Agriculture, in 1785, the first on our continent, 
and with Timotpit Pickerij^tg of Massachusetts as 
Secretary, was followed by the establishment of the 
Massachusetts Society for Promoting Agriculture, 
in 1792, — and thus stimulated by the efibrts of these 
pioneer societies, the Middlesex County Society, 
in 1794, and the Berkshire Society, in 1811, were 
formed, not to speak of the thirty other incorporated 
agricultural societies in our State. And thus the Penn- 
sylvania Horticultural Society, formed in 1827, and the 
Massachusetts Horticultural Society, formed in 1829, 
were the great leaders in the horticultural improve- 
ment which has now spread throughout the length and 
breadth of our land; and now we have of agricultural 



6 

and horticultural societies in our country, more than 
thirteen hundred. In no State in the Union has the in- 
fluence of these early institutions been more distinctly 
visible in promoting the advancement of agriculture, 
and preparing the way for scientific agricultural edu- 
cation, than in Massachusetts. The Massachusetts 
Board of Agriculture has from the first espoused the 
cause, and from this Board, let it here be remembered, 
have sprung the I^ew England Agricultural Societ}^, 
whose President has been actively engaged with us, 
and the United States Agricultural Society, which 
made this a prominent object, and which for eight 
years, and until the opening of our late civil war, was 
exercising a most happy influence on the government 
at Washington, as well as on the Union, and the agri- 
culture of the States. The parent societies of agri- 
culture and horticulture, to which we have already 
alluded, still live in a green old age, and are at work 
with us in the promotion of our good cause. These 
institutions were founded by men of liberal educa- 
tion, men who knew how to appreciate its advan- 
tages in the various pursuits of life. True, they were 
stigmatized as "book-farmers," but to them we are 
indebted mainly for the harvest we are now reaping. 

The flrst movement on the part of our own State, in 
modern progress, was the appointment of Heistky Col- 
man as State Commissioner, in 1836, for the agricultu- 



ral survey of the State, but it was regarded by the 
legislature of so little importance that it was finally 
suspended in the year 1840. Lightly as his labors 
were then esteemed, their influence for good is felt to 
the present day. His reports on the character of 
Massachusetts soils, the reclamation of waste lands, 
the adaptation of crops, and other personal investiga- 
tions, will ever be regarded as treasures of great prac- 
tical knowledge, and as President Clakk truly re- 
marks, " the money expended by the State has been 
returned many times, and will be every year while 
agriculture is practised." 

PIE^T GENERAL EEEOETS. 

Although much had been written on the impor- 
tance of science, as especially applicable to agricul- 
ture, no general efforts had been made for the estab- 
lishment of Agricultural Colleges, or Schools, in this 
State until the year 1849. We had well endowed 
colleges and academies, institutions for the promo- 
tion of other arts and professions, but there were 
none in this or other States where a young man could 
acquire that most important of all arts, the art of 
becoming a scientific, and, therefore, a skilful farmer, 
— one who could, in turn, go out and teach the science 
to others. 

In view of the need of such an institution, efforts 



8 

were made to arouse the attention of the pubUc to 
the importance of the subject. This was one of the 
avowed motives of the founders of the JSTorfolk Agri- 
cultural Society, at whose first exhibition, on the 26th 
of September, 1849, the subject of agricultural educa- 
tion stood forth prominently. The suggestions of the 
address* were received with so much favor, that they 
became the topics of the day. It was voted by the 
Society that three thousand copies of the address be 
printed for public circulation. The occasion was 
made memorable by the presence of a galaxy of talent 
seldom congregated on a similar occasion, among 
whom may be named George JST. Briggs, the Gov- 
ernor of the State, Daniel Webster, Edward 
Everett, Horace Mann, Levi Lincoln, Josiah 
QuiNCT, President of Harvard University, General 
Henry A. S. Dearborn, Gov. Isaac Hill, of 'New 
Hampshire, Lieut. Gov. John Reed, and Rev. John 
Pierpont, D. D. Alas ! all of these bright luminaries 
have sunk below the horizon; all have ceased from 
their labors, and gone to their rest. JSTor would we 
forget the living: Charles Francis Adams, Robert 
C. WiNTHROP, Josiah Quinct, Jr., whose senti- 
ment on that occasion was too prophetic to be for- 
gotten : " The future meetings of the Norfolk Agri- 
cultural Society. They may have better cattle — they 

* By the Presideut, Marshall P. Wilder. 



9 

may have a more extended show; but when will the 
breed of men, the native stock or the imported 
breed, equal that of their first meeting? " The primary 
object in the address alluded to, was to awaken a more 
general interest and immediate action, both by ISTa- 
tional and State legislation, in behalf of Agricultural 
Colleges and Schools. Space will only permit of in- 
corporating in this address a few of the sentiments 
expressed on that occasion. Said Mr. Everett: — 

" I need not enlarge on its importance, for here sits by my side 
the very apostle* of this inspired gospel, who has told us, over 
and over again, the advantages of educatioji ; but I will say, sir, 
that if the yeomanry of New England wish their principles to 
prevail, or their influence to be perpetuated over the country, 
the only way in wbicli they can, for any length of time, efiect 
this object, is to educate their children to understand these 
principles, and firmly and effectually to maintain them." 

Said Mr. Mann:— 

" I rejoiced, sir, when I heard you, to-day, magnify and extol 
the subject of' scientific education for the farmer. It cannot be 
too much exalted ; it cannot be too highly lauded. Those are 
the true views for all farmers, for all men who are to be en- 
gaged in this business, thus to become acquainted with miner- 
alogy and botany, with the physiology, the pathology of plants, 
and thereby get possession of this machine, this wonderful 
apparatus, which has been produced for their use ; and then, sir, 
we. should have a yeomanry in this country, of which the nation 
might well be proud." 

* Hon. HOKACE Mann. 



la 

Encouraged by this favorable aspect, the counsel of 
these gentlemen, and leading agriculturists, it was 
deemed expedient to bring the subject of establishing 
an Agricultural College, or School, under the patron- 
age of the government, immediately before the legis- 
lators of the State of Massachusetts. A bill for this 
purpose was therefore prepared, and introduced into 
the Senate at the next session of the legislature, in 
the winter of 1850. 

After a free and full discussion of its merits, this 
bill passed the Senate, without a dissenting voice, 
providing for the establishment of an Agricultural 
College and an experimental farm. 

But the bill was rejected in the House of Repre- 
sentatives, owing to the prejudice that existed against 
scientific farming, or what was then sarcastically 
termed "Book Farming," and thus Massachusetts 
was deprived of the honor of establishing the first 
Agricultural College in America, as she had already 
done the first free school on this continent. But 
thanks to the Giver of all good, the seed then sowed, 
watered by the tears and nourished by the prayers of 
its friends, finally germinated, and brought forth the 
College under whose auspices we meet to-day. 

Few are aware of the difficulties and discourage- 
ments which attended the early efforts in behalf of 
this enterprise, or of the ridicule which was cast on 



11 

those who advocated mental culture as superior to 
physical power. Since that time a complete revolu- 
tion has taken place in public sentiment, and now 
those who opposed the education of our young farm- 
ers in an Agricultural College, are among its warm- 
est advocates; in fact, those who used to sneer at 
and taunt the movers as men of zeal, now join with 
us in praying for its prosperity. 

BOAED O'F OOMMISSIOJiTEES. 

Much chagrin and disappointment were experienced 
at the loss of the bill alluded to; but the friends of 
the measure, nothing disheartened at its rejection, 
banded themselves together more firmly, believing 
that Massachusetts, so renowned for public and pri- 
vate munificence, for the endowment of institutions of 
learning and benevolence, and for the wisdom of her 
policy in the encouragement of domestic industry, 
would not much longer withhold her fostering hand 
from that cause upon which, more than any other, 
depended the advancement of all human pursuits. A 
resolve was therefore immediately prepared and sub- 
mitted to the legislature for the creation of a Board 
of Commissioners, whose duty should be to report, 
at the next session, upon the expediency of estab- 
lishing Agricultural Schools or Colleges. 

This commission consisted of Marshall P. 



12 

WiLDEE, Edwakd Hitchcock, Samuel A. Eliot, 
Thomas E. Payson^ and Eli "Waeeen, and their re- 
port was made to the legislature at its session in 1851. 
This report embraced the investigations of Rev. Dr. 
Hitchcock, in regard to the Agricultural Schools and 
Colleges of Europe, and contained an account of more 
than three hundred and fifty of these institutions, large 
and small, embodying an amount of information and 
research, on the subjects referred to, never before com- 
municated to the American people, and constituting a 
document of great value, which will ever redound to 
the honor of that lamented man. In concluding their 
report, the commissioners warmly commend the estab- 
lishment of Agricultural Schools, stating, as reasons, 
" that agricultural education was of vital importance, 
not only to the farmers, but to the prosperity of the 
Commonwealth; " " that it has been the custom of the 
State to dis]3ense her funds for educational purposes; 
and that in view of these facts, the commissioners rec- 
ommend an appropriation of twenty thousand dollars 
for the purpose of establishing a central Agricultural 
College, with a model and experimental farm, said in- 
stitution to be open to all classes of the Common- 
wealth, and in the government of which the State shall 
be interested as far as may be deemed expedient ; " and 
further, " that a State Department of Agriculture be 
established, to consist of one member from, and to be 



13 

elected by, each of the incorporated agricultural socie- 
ties now receiving the bounty of the State, which 
Board shall have power to locate or organize, and put 
in operation, the College contemplated by the forego- 
ing recommendations." 

CENTEAL BOARD. 

Simultaneous with this movement, and in prosecu- 
tion of the original design, the JsTorfolk Agricultural 
Society, on the 28th day of January, 1851, authorized 
the president and secretaries of the society to call a 
public convention of delegates, from the various agri- 
cultural societies of the Commonwealth, the object of 
which should be to concert measures for their mutual 
advantage, and for the promotion of agricultural edu- 
cation. 

In accordance with this invitation, the convention 
assembled at the State House in Boston, March the 
20th, 1851, largely represented by delegations from 
the different societies, as well as by other friends. 

The President addressed the convention upon the 
objects of its meeting, " hoping that the cause of agri- 
cultural education now to be submitted to the legisla- 
ture would receive the deliberate consideration of this 
body, and, if it be the opinion of this convention, that 
agriculture may be promoted by the application of 
science, that such a sentiment may be expressed in 



14 

terms so explicit as not to be misunderstood, and that 
the aid of government may be solicited for this pur- 
pose." Another object of this convention was to 
establish a Department of Agriculture at the capitol, 
as a part of the State government, which measure was 
immediately presented to the legislature, then in 
session, and the joint committee of agriculture re- 
ported a bill for the creation of a Board of Agriculture, 
analogous to the Board of Education, similar to the Act 
now in force. But the further consideration of the 
subject, after much debate, was referred to the next 
legislature. 

This being a new measure, its possible failure was 
apprehended. Therefore it was deemed expedient to 
establish a Central Board of Agriculture, whose duties 
should be substantially those which were proposed for 
a State Department. 

Its board of officers were Marshall P. Wilder, 
President; Henry "W. Cushman and John "W. Llnt- 
coln, Vice-Presidents; Allen W. Dodge, Corre- 
sponding Secretary ; Edgar K. "Whittaker, Record- 
ing Secretary, together with three delegates from 
each of the incorporated societies. Here was adopted 
the following resolutions, upon which the subsequent 
action of the Board in regard to agricultural educa- 
tion was based: — 



15 

Resolved, That agricultural schools having been found, by 
the experience of other nations, efficient means of promoting 
the cause of agricultural education, which is so essential to 
the prosperity of farmers and to the welfare of communities, it 
becomes at once the duty and policy of the Commonwealth to 
establish and maintain such institutions for the benefit of all its 
inhabitants. 

Resolved, That the several plans for an agricultural school, 
recently reported by the board of commissioners appointed for 
that purpose, are worthy the profound consideration of the 
people of Massachusetts and their representatives in the Gen- 
eral Court, as indicating the feasibility and practicability of an. 
establishment worthy that exalted character which the State 
has secured by the endowment of kindred institutions, designed, 
like these, for the diffusion of useful knowledge among the 
people. 

The Board met again, September 3, 1851, when a 
committee of five was chosen to report on the subject 
of agricultural education. The president, in behalf of 
the committee, made a report, the concluding resolution 
of which was as follows : — 

Resolved, That Massachusetts has always taken a leading 
part in most of the great enterprises which mark the progress 
of society ; that she is worthy of the high character she has 
secured by the endowment of institutions for the diffusion of 
useful knowledge among the people, and that, by the adoption 
of efficient measures for the professional education of her 
farmers, and the better development of her agricultural re- 
sources, she will add another wreath to her renown for the ele- 
vation of her sons, and the advancement of the best interests of 
society. 



16 

The Board met again January 14, 1852, at which 
time the committee on the subject reported that, in 
conformity with the directions of the Board, a memo- 
rial embracing the investigations of Rev. Dr. Hitch- 
cook, and the conclusions of the commissioners, had 
been presented to the legislature. This memorial was 
signed by Edward Everett, as Chairman of the Ex- 
ecutive Committee, and by the ofGlcers of the Board, 
and to it was appended the following : — 

Resolved, That, inasmuch as agriculture is the chief occupa- 
tion of her citizens, the Commonwealth, in the organization of 
its government, should be provided with a Department of Agri- 
culture, with offices commensurate with the importance of the 
duties to be discharged and the labors to be performed. 

This memorial was received with favor by the legisla- 
ture, and resulted in the creation of the present State 
Department of Agriculture, which was to succeed 
the existing voluntary Central Board. The Act was 
passed in 1852, and the present Secretary of the Board, 
Hon. Charles L. Flint, entered upon the duties of 
his office, February, 1853. 

MASSACHUSETTS SCHOOL OF AGRICULTURE. 

In all these previous movements, the subject of an 
Agricultural College had not been forgotten, but it 
was evident that the public mind was not 'prepared 
for it- in 'fact, its friends came to the conclusion that 



17 

the term, a ScJiool of Agriculture, was more consonant 
to the tunes than an institution of larger calibre. 

From the year 1851, when the report on the Agri- 
cultural Schools of Europe was made, no special ef- 
forts were made for the establishment of a College. 
Those, therefore, who favored a College, were so much 
disappointed by the action of the legislature in re- 
jecting the bill for a College, that they resolved on 
the establishment of a School or Schools of Agricul- 
ture, and to look to private munificence for aid, rather 
than to the government. In accordance with this 
idea, some of the gentlemen who had been most ac- 
tive in the project for planting a College, now asso- 
ciated together for the establishment of a School, and 
finally, in the" winter of 1856, obtained an Act of incor- 
poration under the title of the Massachusetts School 
of Agriculture. The persons named in the Act were 
Marshall P. Wildek, Bekjamiij^ Y. Feench, 
Geoege "W. Lyman-, Seth Sprague, Moses JSTew- 
ell, Kichard S. Fay and Samuel Hooper, who 
were empowered to hold, by bequest, gift, purchase 
or otherwise, real and personal estate, not exceeding 
five hundred thousand dollars, for the purpose of con- 
ducting and maintaining an experimental farm and 
school thereon. This plan seemed to accord better 
with the phase of public sentiment, and efforts were 
in progress for the establishment of such a school,. 



18 

which promised to be successful. A liberal proposal 
had been received from the heirs of "William H. 
Cakt, at Lexington, for the establishment of it in 
that town , another from the city of Springfield, where 
nearly forty thousand dollars had been subscribed, 
and an offer of the town farm and buildings had been 
made by the city on condition of locating the School 
there. 

The Board of Trustees at that time was increased 
to thirteen. Its oflicers were : Marshall P. "Wildee, 
President; William S. Clark, Corresponding Sec- 
retary; E. W. Bond, Recording Secretary; Henry 
Alexander, Jr., Treasurer. In their report of April, 
1861, the Trustees state that they have been induced 
to locate the School in Springfield, and expressed the 
hope that they might, at no distant day, lay the 
foundation of the Massachusetts School of Agricul- 
ture, as one of the permanent institutions of the 
State. 

The interest which had been awakened in Massa- 
chusetts and some other States, on the subject of 
agricultural education, and the movements in the 
State and National assemblies for its promotion, kept 
the public mind alive, and furnished the theme for 
most of the addresses at agricultural exhibitions. 

The United States Agricultural Society, established 
at Washington in 1852, being an emanation from our 



19 

State Board, immediately took up the subject, and 
during its existence, for eight years, and until the 
opening of the late civil war, advocated strongly the 
duty of the nation to afford governmental aid for 
agricultural education. 

In 1857, Michigan established an independent Col- 
lege, and the Massachusetts School of Agriculture 
was to be planted at Springfield; but in the year 1858 
the attention of Congress was called specially to the 
subject by the Hon. Justin S. Moerill, represen- 
tative, and now senator, from Vermont. All honor 
to his name, and we most gratefully acknowledge the 
pleasure of his presence on this occasion. 

Mr. MoERiLL submitted a bill, appropriating a por- 
tion of the public lands for the endowment of a Col- 
lege in each State, to teach such branches of learning 
as are related to agriculture and the mechanic arts, in 
such manner as the legislature of the State may 
prescribe, in order to promote the liberal and practi- 
cal education of the industrial classes and professions 
of life. 

After prolonged discussions for two sessions, this 
bill passed both Houses of Congress, and was sent to 
the President for his approval, but, contrary to the 
hopes of its friends, it was vetoed by James Bu- 
OHAKAis", President of the United States. 



20 

N-ATIONAL GRANT. 

The friends of the measure were greatly disappoint- 
ed, but the favor of Congress having been secured they 
believed that the one-man power would not long with- 
hold this boon from the farmers of the nation. 

Mr. MoKEiLL, whose speeches were most replete in 
powerful argument, cogent reasons and patriotic mo- 
tives, with unflinching perseverance stood as chief 
engineer at the helm, till finally, in July, 1862, the bill 
was enacted, thus reserving for Abraham Lixcoln" 
the immortal honor of placing his sign manual to 
an Act scarcely less important in its bearings on 
the welfare of the nation, than his ever memorable 
proclamation of universal freedom to its inhabitants. 

Governor Andrew, with his nsual benevolence and 
far-sighted policy, in his message of 1863 to the legis- 
lature, recommended the acceptance of this National 
grant, and submitted his views, in an elaborate and 
able manner, with reference to a plan for imiting the 
I*^ational fund with the Bussey fund, given to Har- 
vard College for a similar purpose. The plan and 
recommendations of Gov. Andrew were referred to 
a joint special committee, of which the Rev. E. O. 
Haven, D. D., of the Senate, was chairman, a gentle- 
man distinguished both as a theologian and a friend 
of education. The subject became one of general 
concernment. Frequent and protracted hearings were 



21 

held by the committee. Several plans were presented, 
with reference to bestowing a part of the income 
of the fund on existing institutions, the most promi- 
nent of which was the Massachusetts Institute of 
Technology, located in Boston, and claiming the 
duty and right to be trusted with education in the 
mechanic arts. In all these hearings and discussions, 
the Board of Agriculture was represented by a 
committee, through whom was expressed the opinion 
of the leading agriculturists of our State, in the 
following: — 

Resolved, That, in the opinion of this Board, the interests 
of the State and the intention of Congress require that the 
grant should be principally devoted to the establishment of an 
educational institution for the practical and scientific study of 
agriculture, and for the instruction of youths who intend to 
follow industrial pursuits, and tliat the institution should not 
be immediately connected with any institution established for 
other purposes. 

So strong and decided were the convictions of this 
joint committee of the Board in favor of an indepen- 
dent College, " that were the valuable Bussey Farm in 
West Eoxbury, and all the fund devoted by the will 
of Mr. Bussey to the promotion of agricultural edu- 
cation, amounting to more than two hundred thousand 
dollars, offered to them for the foundation of an Agri- 
cultural College, and to be placed wholly under their 
control, only on the condition that the College should 



22 

be located on the Bussey Farm in "West Eoxbnry, and 
also that a portion of this grant should be added 
thereto, they would decidedly prefer not to take the 
Bussey Farm, and not to take the two hundred thou- 
sand dollars from the Bussey estate, incumbered with 
that simple condition- but would deliberately prefer 
to take their portion of the congressional grant alone, 
whatever it may be, and use it for the support of an 
Agricultural College in some other part of the State." 

The chairman. Dr. Haven", remarks, " so decided 
an opinion from so respectable a body appeared, to 
the committee, entitled to great weight." And in his 
argument before the Senate, on the bill which he then 
submitted for the establishment of this College, he ex- 
pressed the opinion, that although he had at first been 
favorably inclined to Gov. Andrew's plan, he would 
now advocate an independent College. 

And here let me say, we do not object to a Depart- 
ment of Agriculture in other Colleges in States where 
the fund is not sufficient to establish independent in- 
stitutions • but let it be remembered that from the first 
inception of measures, the friends in Massachusetts 
held steadfastly to the idea that Massachusetts must 
have an independ*ent Agricultural College, located in 
a rural district and not in the suburbs of a great city. 

The bill passed the legislature, and thus the State, 
by the acceptance of the National grant, became at 



23 

once the proprietor, not only, but the parent and pa- 
tron of the College, and by this Act, which gave to the 
Institute of Technology a portion of the fund, for the 
advancement of the mechanic acts, our institution be- 
came the only College in the United States designed 
exclusively for the education of farmers. 

And here let it be remembered, that although Gov. 
Andrew adhered firmly to his plan for locating the 
College on the Bussey Farm, until after the passage of 
the bill, he promptly approved it, and with that integ- 
rity and magnanimity which ever distinguished his 
character, he said, " I thought I was right, but the 
people will not have it so, and I cordially submit." 

Measures were then immediately instituted for the 
location of the College ; one-tenth part of the land 
scrip, by the Act of Congress to be used for the pur- 
pose of purchasing a farm, was placed in the hands of 
the corporation, under the provision "that said Col- 
lege shall first secure, by subscriptions or otherwise, 
the further sum of seventy-five thousand dollars, for 
the erection of suitable buildings thereon." 

COMMENCEMENT AND LOCATION. 

The hour will not permit of further details in 
regard to location, purchase of the farm, erection of 
buildings, &c., or the various progressive operations 
of the College, all of which are recorded in the annual 



24: 

reports to the legislature. Suffice it to say, that the 
clouds of fears and doubts which for so many years 
had overshadowed the horizon of our hopes were fast 
retiring, gilded by the promise of brighter prospects 
and better days. 

' A new era had dawned in the agriculture of our 
country. The time had now come when Massachu- 
setts was to have an Agricultural College, where she 
could give to her young farmers similar advantages to 
those which she had provided for other classes in her 
system of educational institutions ; " the location, plan 
of organization, and course of study, to be approved 
by the governor and council." Propositions from va- 
rious portions of the State, for the location of the 
College, were received, the most prominent of which 
were, the one already alluded to from Lexington, and 
from Amherst, which town generously subscribed 
seventy-five thousand dollars, in addition to a prom- 
ised donation of the Messrs. Hills of ten thousand 
dollars, as a fund to aid in the establishment of a 
botanic garden. 

The Trustees accepted the propositions from the 
town of Amherst, purchased the present farm, com- 
menced the erection of its buildings, and opened its 
doors for the reception of students on the second day 
of October, 1867, when its first class of thirty-three 
young men appeared soliciting instruction. 



25 

Its first President was the Hon. Hen"iiy F. French, 
author of a popular work entitled " Farm Drainage," 
who had recently returned from Europe, where he 
had made a tour of agricultural observation. 

President Feen^ch immediately removed to Amherst, 
where he concerted plans and a course of study for 
the establishment of the College, which were accepted 
by the Trustees, and approved by the Governor and 
Council. President Feench resigned his office, re- 
moved to Boston, and resumed his professional 
labors. In this critical juncture, it became a matter 
of great anxiety who should be his successor. 

The attention of the Trustees was at once turned to 
the Hon. P. A. Chadbourxe, then a professor in 
"Williams College, a gentleman celebrated for his 
scientific attainments and executive ability. He was 
unanimously elected by the Trustees, and after strong 
solicitations accepted the office. "With that energy 
and enterprise which have ever characterized his labors 
for human improvement, he soon placed matters pre- 
paratory to its reception of students in a promising 
condition ; but after a few months he was compelled 
to resign the presidency, and remove to the West, for 
the benefit of his health. 

The retirement of President Chadbouene, to 
whom the Trustees and the public looked as the herald 
of progress and prosperity, created general regret; 



26 

but when it was ascertained that the present incum- 
bent, Col. William S. Claek, then a professor in 
Amherst College, and just returned from honorable 
service on the battle-field of his country, might accept 
the office and hereafter devote his energies to the 
teaching of young men how to improve the soil, as 
well as to defend it, and how to make it more and 
more worth defending, he was immediately and 
unanimously elected to the office. 

So well has he discharged these duties, that neither 
he or the public can wish for a better testimonial 
than this occasion furnishes. During the adminis- 
tration of Col. Claek, the growth and progress 
of the institution have been of the most gratifying 
character, constantly inspiring the public with confi- 
dence, and meeting fully the most sanguine hojDcs of 
its friends. ISTeither is it too much to say, that no other 
Agricultural College in the Union presents better fiicili- 
ties for young men tQ become truly intelligent and 
successful farmers. 

IMPORT AINTCE OF THE COLLEGE. 

The importance and value of the College to the 
State and country, especially to the farmer, in the 
adaptation and increase of agricultural products, re- 
claiming our waste lands, improving and adorning 
our homesteads, enhancing the value of real estate, 



27 

and multiplying the blessings and comforts of life, 
cannot be too highly prized; nor should we forget in 
all this its especial object is to elevate, to the most 
honorable and useful position, that large class of 
society, our young men who are to cultivate the soil, 
and upon whose calling must ever rest, more than 
upon any other, the happiness of the civilized world. 
And who that has ever reflected for a moment upon 
the influence of educated labor, does not see the im- 
portance of it as the great agency of a high and pro- 
gressive state of civilization? "With a proper knowl- 
edge of science, with a discreet diversification of 
crops, and with the advantages of ready markets, even 
the soil of ^N'ew England, though rough and rocky, 
is capable of competing successfully with the most 
favored portions of our country, and this knowledge 
it is the object of the College and mission of its 
graduates to impart. 

If by the application of science we can fathom the 
depths of nature, explore her secret springs, learn 
how her curious machinery acts, unfold and explain 
her mysterious processes, learn how she prepares in 
her secret laboratory the appropriate nutriment for 
the more than one hundred thousand species of the 
vegetable kingdom, — from the humblest flower which 
nestles close to the bosom of the earth, only blooming 
to die, to the lofty Sequoia, rearing its head to the 



28 

very heavens, and braving the tempests for thousands 
of years, all as capable of assimilating and digesting 
their proper elements as man himself, — shall we not 
do it ? If by chemical analysis we can ascertain 
what are the constituents of soil, crops and manures, 
or in what elements they are deficient; their proper 
adaptation to each other; the diseases to which the 
animal and vegetable kingdoms are subject, and dis- 
cover the remedies for each, shall we hesitate to do 
it? These sciences have wrought wonders in our 
own day, and are destined to still greater achieve- 
ments. How wonderful the progress! Man has 
seized upon the very elements of nature, and made 
them subservient to his use. 

Objections have been made that some of the schol- 
ars go to the College for the purpose of obtaining 
a first-rate education, and not specially for the pur- 
pose of becoming farmers. Well, be it so; it is a 
laudable motive on their part, and no fault of the 
College. Massachusetts can ofi'er no more beneficent 
boon to her sons; and we hesitate not to aver, that 
any student who can graduate at this institution, 
whether he be destined to become a farmer, minister, 
lawyer, physician or tradesman, will be quite as 
capable of earning his living as he would if he had 
received his education at any other College; and we 
believe that whatever his object might have been on 



29 

entering the institijtion, the chances are, he will come 
out an intelligent cultivator of the soil, a lover of 
nature, a better man and a better citizen. "We do, 
therefore, most earnestly exhort the good people, and 
especially the farmers of Massachusetts, to appreciate 
the great advantages which are placed before them 
by the wise and liberal provision which the govern- 
ment has made for the education of their sons. Let 
our young men, instead of rushing to the crowded 
marts of business, to become highly civilized and dis- 
tinguished in life, resort to our Agricultural Colleges, 
and learn that the highest triumiDh of civilization is 
the conquest of mind over matter; the dominion of 
man over nature, — improving, adorning and elevating 
her to the noblest purposes of creation. This seems 
to have been the criterion of a high state of civiliza- 
tion and refinement, from the day when " Adam toiled 
and Eve delved" in the Garden of Eden; and the 
Bible, in its frequent allusions to trees and plants, 
fruits and flowers, grass and grain, furnishes some of 
the most instructive lessons, and the most sublime 
and exalted metaphors, of all that is beautiful in im- 
agery, excellent in character and hopeful in destiny. 

The surprising manner in which the College has 
overcome all doubts and fears, as well as ridicule and 
opposition of the faithless, and actually commands 
the respect of both friend and foe, should encourage 



30 

the government as well as private indmduals to aid 
in its advancement. Let our rich men come forward 
and complete the work so well begun. This is the 
Massachusetts College; and if they would connect 
their names with an institution alike popular, useful 
and permanent, let them erect buildings, endow prizes, 
scholarships, and chairs of science. Let them provide 
funds for experiments, for books, and for the arboretum 
and botanic garden. For this last we want a fund 
of fifty thousand dollars, the income of which might 
be applied to pay indigent students for labor in keep- 
ing it in order, thus encouraging habits of industry 
and manly self-reliance. We have the land, the plan 
devised, the Duefee Plant-House, and the Hills 
FuiSTD for the purchase of trees and plants. Let this 
be done. Other institutions, and other countries,* 
have these attached to their seminaries; and what 
more honorable testimonial can a man leave to pos- 
terity, than a department, which shall afford instruc- 
tion and pleasure to future generations, in one of the 
most useful and beautiful studies of nature? 

CONOLUSIOJ^: 

I rejoice to meet on this occasion His Excellency 
the Governor of the State, who has ever manifested a 
lively interest in the welfare of this institution. 

* Kew Gardens, near London; Jardin des Plantes, Paris ; Prospect Park, 
Brooklyn; Department of Agriculture, Washington, 



31 

I rejoice to meet also, so many of the friends who 
from the first have been steadfast supporters of our 
efforts, whose efficiency has contributed largely to the 
success of our enterprise. "While we drop a tear of 
grateful remembrance over the graves of our departed 
associates, we would not forget one who still lives, our 
worthy and esteemed friend, Paoli Lathkop, whose 
interest in our cause has endeared him to us from 
the first, though his infirmity for many years has de- 
prived us of his presence, but who has our sincere 
sympathy. May the remainder of his days be as 
tranquil and serene as his life has been exemplary 
and useful. 

N^ever before have the friends of agriculture in 
Massachusetts met under circumstances so gratify- 
ing as the present, so full of hope for the future. 

"While we rejoice with unaffected pride in the suc- 
cess which has crowned the labors to establish a first- 
class Agricultural College in our own State, we would 
also acknowledge the satisfaction we feel in the prog- 
ress and prosperity of similar institutions, especially 
in the opening of the Bussey Institution, under the 
supervision of Harvard University. " And let no one 
fear," said Dr. Hitchcock, " that we shall have too 
many of these. Those countries in Europe where 
they are most numerous, are the most inclined to mul- 



32 

tiply them; and my conviction is, that ere fifty years 
have passed, the State will find she needs more of 
them." 

Nor can I, in the presence of these young gentle- 
men who have this day graduated, refrain from a 
brief allusion to the beneficial and positive tendency 
of the calling they have chosen, in promoting the 
welfare of the State and the happiness of her popula- 
tion. 

The cultivation of the soil as a science is the most 
rational and interesting that ever occupied the atten- 
tion of the human family. "Whatever gratification 
may be derived from other pursuits, there is surely 
none to which we can look with so much confidence 
in its efiect on the moral condition of society, the wel- 
fare of the nation and the destiny of the world. Said 
Dr. Hitchcock, " A great principle is involved in the 
science of agriculture, which reaches through indefi- 
nite generations, and forms the basis of all possible 
improvements and of the highest hopes of our race." 
"We cannot, therefore, too highly appreciate the im- 
portance of training up our sons, and our daughters, 
to a taste for rural life and rural pursuits, thus pro- 
moting a stronger love for home, kindred and coun- 
try. Well did Mr. Clay say, " My name will be re- 
membered with more pleasure and gratitude, by those 



33 

that know me, for my devotion to agriculture and the 
mechanic arts, than all my long life in politics." 

The more, therefore, we instil into the minds of our 
youth a love of nature, the more will they appreciate 
this sentiment; and the more they reflect on the 
beauty and perfection of this fair creation, the more 
will their souls become invested with that purity and 
refinement which lead the mind to contemplate, with 
devotion and gratitude, the wisdom and infinitude of 
that Almighty hand which carpets the earth with liv- 
ing gems, scarcely less brilliant or numerous than the 
glittering host above; which sends nature forth, in- 
stinct with God in her brightest and most beautiful 
habiliments, to attract, gratify and delight the senses. 
"Well did LiNN'^us remark, when discovering a new 
principle in nature, " I have seen God passing by." 
How truly Mr. Emeeso]N^ describes this sentiment, 
" He who knows the most, he who knows what sweets 
and virtues are in the ground, and how to come at 
these enchantments, is the rich and royal man." 

And what more precious monument can we raise 
than a living memorial, which shall continue to grow 
and minister to the sustenance of our race when we 
have passed from earth. I had rather have the honor 
of producing a new grain, fruit or flower, suited to 
extensive cultivation, which shall bear my name long 
after I shall have ceased from my labors, than any 



34 

other earthly distinction. Far better this, than piles 
of polished granite or pillars of lying marble. Let 
me be remembered as one who has done something to 
improve nature and embellish mother earth — some- 
thing to relieve toil, reward labor and add to the 
comforts of life — something which shall contribute to 
the support, taste and refinement of the advancing 
millions who are to people this continent. 

I would also now congratulate the people of this 
good old Commonwealth upon the auspicious circum- 
stances under which the first Graduation Day of her 
College is celebrated. This certainly awakens the 
most pleasing anticipations of future usefulness, and 
encourages the belief that, as in the past, Massachu- 
setts, with that wisdom of policy for which she is so 
justly renowned in the education of her sons, and with 
that sense of justice and personal honor which has 
ever characterized her in the great moral enterprises 
of the age, will not be outdone by any of her sister 
States in the promotion of the cause we seek to ad- 
vance. With a wise foresight she has accepted the 
grant of Congress, with a paternal regard she has 
made liberal appropriations for the support of her 
College, and having put her hand to the plough, there 
will be no looking back. 

Agricultural schools are as intimately connected 
with the welfare of the Commonwealth as normal 



35 

schools, and they should provide teachers for the gen- 
eration of farmers who are to acquire the means of 
living on the soil, so that every young man who has a 
desire to remain on the old homestead, a taste for 
rural life, or a thirst for this knowledge, may have the 
privilege of attaining to the honorable and useful 
position of an intelHgent cultivator of the soil. 

May the future anniversaries of this College be 
as glorious as the present, and may it ever be enough 
to say of Massachusetts, as we progress in the good 
work of educating the yeomanry of our State, in the 
words of her illustrious statesman and distinguished 
farmer on another occasion, "There she is; behold 
her!" 

And here I desire for myself, and in behalf of those 
with whom I have been associated, to acknowledge 
the goodness of that Divine Providence which has 
prolonged our lives and permitted us to witness the 
establishment of an Agricultural College in Massa- 
chusetts. 

It is not often that the projectors of like enterprises 
are permitted to reap the harvest of their sowing. 
Soon, all of those who twenty years ago were banded 
together for the promotion of agricultural education 
in this State will have gone to their reward; but I 
esteem it as among the choicest reminiscences of my 
life, that I have enjoyed the friendship of those wise 



36 

and good men. I have climbed the summit of the hill 
of life, and am descending on the other side. Ere 
long I shall reach the valley below and be buried in 
the bosom of my mother earth; but while I live, I 
shall labor with such ability as I possess to promote 
the welfare of this College, and the good cause which 
we have so long had at heart. May this institution 
live on, prospering and to prosper. May it rise 
higher and higher in the scale of popular favor and 
usefulness, sharing the good-will of the people, the 
munificence of noble-hearted men, and the fostering 
care of a generous government. In the words uttered 
by me twenty-two years ago: "Let our agricultural 
papers and periodicals continue their noble advocacy 
of this cause; let the voice of the eloquent advocate 
it in the halls of legislation, and throughout the 
length and breadth of our land; let efficient hands 
and warm hearts engage in it, and then the public 
mind cannot slumber, agricultural education will ad- 
vance, and we shall have among our yeomanry such 
farmers as the world never before witnessed, — men 
who will honor their vocation, and therefore be hon- 
ored by society, the chiefs of our land, the bulwark of 
our nation." 

And now, with a heart full of gratitude for the kind 
appreciation of my poor labors which has been ex- 
pressed on this occasion, let me say, that when I 



37 

reflect on the opposition, indifference and doubts 

« 

which have encountered our efforts for the establish- 
ment of this College, even from the farmers, and con- 
trast these with this auspicious day, I beg to close 
this address with the reverent use of the language of 
Divine inspiration, " And now, Lord, lettest thou thy 
servant depart in peace." 



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